Multiphase flow meters have been configured with several sensors to gather data regarding complex flows, usually consisting of oil, water and gas. Flow meters can be further configured with computer systems or micro-computer systems to log and interpret the sensor data using math algorithms. Sensors can be utilized to detect and measure data regarding solids as well. Sensors can be combined and configured in conjunction with a venturi flow passage to enable the measurement measure mass flow and can be further configured with a method to estimate fluid fractions. For systems that can perform fluid fraction estimations several measurement sensors and technologies can be configured as part of the system. These sensors and technologies can include the followings sensors and sources, for example, radioactive, x-ray, infrared, resistivity, capacitance, and acoustic. Systems configured with these technologies have several known issues that would be desirable to address or minimize, certain methods and systems can be unsafe for handling, inaccurate, or do not perform in certain conditions.
Prior systems that have utilized extended throat venturi configurations recognize that a stabilized mixture of oil, water and gas cannot be formed when the void fraction increases to 90-95% or greater. An extended throat venturi configuration has a longer throat section than a standard venturi configuration but is otherwise similar to a standard venturi configuration. Void fraction is the fraction of gas in liquid. For example; a void fraction of 90% means that 90% of the total volume of conduit is occupied by gas phase while the rest of 10% is covered by liquid phase. When the void fraction is 90-95% or greater, interaction between gas and liquid becomes a complicated phenomenon to accurately measure. Additional pressure drops can be experienced by the gas phase due to the irreversible work done by the gas phase in accelerating the liquid phase. These pressure drops over the convergent section of the venturi can result in over-estimation (resulting into measurement error) in measuring the gas flow rates.